Marshal Trikov's "gift"

During the defense of Stalingrad, Trikov learned that a regimental commander was preparing to abandon his troops to desert, he wore camouflage uniforms, came to the camp in a tank, did not say a word, went forward to grab the officer, the other side did not recognize the general and shot back, the two sides immediately wrestled together, and the regimental commander finally fainted on the ground.

Not to mention being a deserter, just by beating up the superior, we should correct the law on the spot. However, Trikov, who had risen from the ground, ordered the guards who had already pulled out their pistols, and then took out a delicate little box and handed it to a soldier, instructing: "When your regimental commander wakes up, give this to him and tell him that Trikov will always be with everyone!"

Later, the regimental commander was very touched and led the whole regiment of soldiers to fight until the last moment.

In the summer of 1942, the German army drove straight in, the soldiers were under Stalingrad, and Trikov, who took the initiative to return from China to participate in the war, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the 62nd Army, and under the circumstance that international public opinion was overwhelmingly believing that the city would eventually be unsafe, Trikov said to his subordinates at the foot of Mamayev's Hill: "There is the Volga River in front of you, who wants to go now, anyway, I want to stay, and the headquarters will not leave!"

The general fulfilled his promise, and even though the enemy was less than two kilometers away from him at the nearest point, and once the headquarters was caught in flames by an explosion in an oil depot, Trikov remained still unmoving. The supreme commander led by example, and the generals all dragged down the crazy German army and gained precious time for the strategic counteroffensive of the Red Army. Trikov's more than 130,000 troops were only 239 men.

After the war, talking about his gift to the regimental commander, Trikov said: "If I am an ordinary soldier or a junior officer, if I can escape, why should I die here?" Someone then asked, "What if the regimental commander still became a deserter?" The marshal groaned for a moment, his eyes tearful: "But in the end, he became a hero!"

A small gift at a critical moment allowed an officer to transform from a deserter to a hero.

(Author: Yang Yaxiong)

(Excerpt from Speech and Eloquence)